MLive file photoLarry Byrd upholsters a chair for Irwin Seating on 2008. The Walker-based company has joined a massive international price-fixing case alleging collusion among producers of polyurethane foam.

WALKER, MI — Irwin Seating Co. this week waded into an international price-fixing case that began several years ago when federal authorities learned polyurethane foam makers were allegedly conspiring to charge inflated prices for their product.

Irwin filed suit Friday in Grand Rapids federal district court, alleging that collusion among domestic and international foam producers going back a decade caused them to pay too much for foam necessary in the production of upholstered seating and office furniture.

The Walker-based seating company’s lawsuit joins a murky morass of court filings with several groups of foam buyers pursuing litigation in multiple states and overseas.

The lawsuits have also targeted chemical companies like BASF and Dow Chemical, which make ingredients used in the production of polyurethane foam. Plaintiffs in other cases include companies like Tempur-Pedic, La-Z-Boy, and Sealy.

In the 43-page filing, Irwin claims “flagrant” violations of the Sherman Act and Michigan Antitrust Reform Act were uncovered in 2010 when foam producer Vitafoam approached the Justice Dept., and admitted to illegally fixing prices in exchange for leniency.

The alleged conspiracy dates back to Jan. 1999, according to the lawsuit. Irwin said they only discovered the scheme in 2008.

The lawsuit lists the Carpenter Co., Flexible Foam Products, Future Foam, Hickory Springs Manufacturing Co., Leggett & Platt, Mohawk Industries, Vitafoam, and the Woodbridge Group as defendants, although several other foam manufacturers and distributors are named in the filing.

The defendants are among the largest foam makers in the world. Carpenter is the world's largest producer of flexible-foam products for comfort cushions and Hickory Springs is one of the largest producers of flexible polyurethane foam in the U.S.

The foam is a commodity material in furniture, bedding, packaging, flooring and automobile manufacturing.

Irwin alleges they were told foam prices were rising alongside the cost of raw materials when the manufacturers were actually coordinating the price levels of key chemical ingredients.

The suit claims that producers allegedly discussed how they would allocate the market and raise prices about two or three times a year. The conspiring companies allegedly fixed the bidding process in some cases.

Code names and attendance at trade association meetings were used to hide the alleged price-fixing scheme, according to the complaint.

Foam producers policed themselves to make sure they didn’t poach on each other’s markets, according to telephone transcripts included in the lawsuit. In one call, an executive called a peer to complain about a salesman who was "knocking on doors they've never knocked on before.”

“If he wants a battle, I'll give him a battle. We will start going after his accounts and it won't be pretty. We'll both end up hurting.... I'll let the dogs loose or I don't let the dogs loose. Want to mill it over and give me a shout back?"

In a follow-up call, the man continued: "Just, you know, we've kind of stayed out of each other's way for some time here while business is quiet. There's just no business to be had and dropping prices is only going to benefit the customers."

The call transcripts were obtained by federal authorities with the help of a cooperating Vitafoam witness, according to the lawsuit. Other federal evidence includes email exchanges from the past decade between executives at Foamex, Vitafoam, Woodbridge and other companies regarding the scheduling and size of price increases.

Some of the companies in the alleged conspiracy have proposed settlements out of court.

Irwin Seating is represented by Gruel Mills Nims & Pylman LLP of Grand Rapids. The company is a family-owned business in its 104th year. Its headquarters are at 3251 Fruit Ridge Ave. NW.

The company is seeking unspecified treble damages and is asking for an injunction against the alleged conspiracy, or a jury trial.